The Railgun Past Arc (超電磁砲過去編 Rērugan Kako-hen?),[3][Notes 2] also known as the First Year Arc (一年生編 Ichinensei-hen?),[1][2][Notes 1] is a story arc in the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun manga series, covering chapters 131 onwards.
The story focuses on events in the past, beginning near the start of Misaka Mikoto's first year at Tokiwadai Middle School, when she had just reached Level 5.[4]
Background[]
Majesty[]
There are numerous cliques at Tokiwadai Middle School, with the leader of the largest clique typically receiving a nickname like "Queen" or "Empress".[4] However, there is also a special title which the school bestows upon the leader of a clique which remains the largest for over a year and stays the largest until the student's graduation - Majesty.[4]
The Majesty emblem.
Earning the title is said to guarantee a successful career,[4] and apparently a potential spot on the city's Board of Directors,[4][5] which some have sought after.[5] The position of Majesty (or Majesty presumptive) is signified by a brooch in the shape of an infinity symbol,[6][7] worn by at least twelve students by the time the two Level 5s entered Tokiwadai.[8]
Takebayashi Family[]
The Takebayashi Family was one of many factions who wished to obtain connections and influence within Academy City. Seeking the alleged position on the Board of Directors granted by Tokiwadai's Majesty title, the family adopted numerous daughters and sent them to Academy City, so that at least one would gain admittance to Tokiwadai and acquire the position on their behalf.[5]
Four years prior to the main story (three years before Mikoto's first year at Tokiwadai), Takebayashi Yayoi was the head of Tokiwadai's biggest clique and the top candidate for the Majesty title.[5] However, that same year, members of her clique were abducted. Having obtained information that they were being held captive at Tanrei Chemicals, Yayoi attacked the company, resulting in her arrest, with two dead and the abducted girls being recovered elsewhere (with the possibility of bribery or evidence tampering noted years later).[5][9] She was erased from Tokiwadai's records by the school's director, who covered up the scandal, though her name wasn't publically revealed in association with the incident,[5] and supposedly committed suicide in prison afterwards.[5]
Having invested heavily in her success, the Takebayashi Family was bankrupted and the remaining daughters were distributed between its branch families.[5] One of them, Sha Danshan, sought revenge on Tokiwadai for Yayoi's death and would enter the school to that end, with support from her fellow adoptee in the year below, Kessai Kiyoshi.[10][6]
Tokiwadai Middle School[]
The silhouettes of the three clique leaders, as Kessai explains about them to Mikoto
At the start of Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki's first year at Tokiwadai Middle School, Tokiwadai Middle School was dominated by three main cliques, referred to as Tokiwadai's 'big three' cliques; in order from largest to smallest and first to last, they were the Sha Clique, the Mikagami Clique and the Hasekura Clique.[4]
The largest clique was led by second year student Sha Danshan, said to be the closest to the title of "Majesty" at the time. Sha and her clique believed that the gifted had a duty to do volunteer work (such as buying and greening deserts) and its members were dedicated to service, earning them popularity and power. It was suggested that their efforts might have been to thank for Tokiwadai being considered one of the top five schools. It was also suggested that the secret to Sha's popularity might have been the protective desire inspired by her weakness and frailty, having a weak constitution and being nicknamed the Infirmary Empress.[4]
The clique in second place was led by third year student Mikagami Nagisa and of the three, was said to be working the hardest to get results.[4] The Mikagami Clique was apparently made up of students who were mostly drawn to her oil control ability and sought her to fulfill their own desires (such as manipulating fat in their body to enhance their bust or slim them down), with Mikagami only doing this for those who contributed the most to her clique.[4] The clique in third place was led by third year student Hasekura Reiri, the oldest but overtaken by the other two (supposedly without intending to). It was described by one of its members as a carnivorous clique, with members willing to throw others under the bus to succeed.[4]
Mikoto's later flashback to her with the other two students
One student whom Misaka Mikoto would encounter and interact with was Shin'enkouji Rurikakesu (Ruri for short), a second-year student noted to be a free spirit who refused to fit the mold and whom not even the teachers could control, and someone whom the three main cliques had an eye on.[4] Another one was Kessai Kiyoshi, a first-year student who was her first roommate and a member of the Hasekura Clique, for whom she was monitoring Mikoto.[4][11]
Level 5s[]
At the start of the new school year in April, two Level 5 espers entered Tokiwadai amongst the incoming first year students, Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki, realizing the school's dream of having a Level 5, but also having some effects among some of the students.[4] Among the big cliques, there was apparently a wish to avoid their competitors taking in a Level 5 but also a concern that the Level 5 would take attention away from the clique leader and disrupt the status quo within the clique if they took them in.[4]
Misaka Mikoto achieved Level 5 around the time she entered Tokiwadai,[12][13] but was apparently only just above the threshold from Level 4 and was at that point the weakest of the Level 5s.[4]
Shokuhou Misaki entered the school from Clone Dolly as part of a deal she made with the Board member with authority over Tokiwadai to suspend support to Shundou Toshizou and Ideal. Shortly after the deal was made, the Board of Directors approved her promotion to Level 5.[14] At the time, she was small and lacked the figure she had one year later,[15][14] being described by people as looking like a doll.[4]
Outside of Tokiwadai Middle School, there was work connected to another Level 5 which would be involved in the events to follow. Having previously acquired a sample from the #2 Level 5 Kakine Teitoku, Antikythera were working on a scientific reproduction of his Dark Matter ability, known as Attachment Dark Matter, but had hit a roadblock in the development. They were secretly employing the services of Montgolfier, another company which had claimed to be working on the mechanical reproductions of esper abilities.[16][10]
Chronology[]
First Year, First Half[]
Spring Encounters[]
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This section requires expansion Ch137.5,[12] Ch131-132[4][11] |
Summer Encounters[]
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This section requires expansion Ch132.5/132.75[17][18] |
Clique Conflict[]
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This section requires expansion Ch133-Ch134[19][20] |
Ambushes[]
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This section requires expansion Ch134-Ch137 (Attack on Mikagami/Shokuhou)[20][21][22][23] |
First Railgun[]
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This section requires expansion Ch138-139[24][25] |
Investigation[]
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This section requires expansion Ch140-141 (Hasekura's Investigations)[25][26][27] |
Company Raid[]
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This section requires expansion Ch141-143 (Truce, Hunt for the Culprit)[27][16][10] |
First Year, Second Half[]
Beginnings of the Shokuhou Clique[]
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This section requires expansion Ch144-146[28][29][30][5] |
Takebayashi Legacy[]
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This section requires expansion Ch147-Ch150[5][9][6][7] |
Graduation[]
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This section requires expansion Ch151[31] |
Second Year, Start[]
New Encounters[]
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This section requires expansion Ch152-Ch154[32][33][34] |
Framing[]
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This section requires expansion Ch155-Ch158[35][36][37][8] |
Endgame[]
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This section requires expansion Ch158-[8][38][39][40][41] |
Notes[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Volume 17
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Volume 18
- ↑ Ogino Kentarou (Railgun manga editor), X/Twitter
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 131
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 147
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 149
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 150
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 158
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 148
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 143
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 132
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 137.5
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun - Misaka Mikoto Maniax Misaka Mikoto's Big, Big, Big Secrets Exposed! Q&A 30
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Astral Buddy Manga Chapter 016
- ↑ Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 11 Chapter 1
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 142
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 132.5
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 132.75
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 133
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 134
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 135
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 136
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 137
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 138
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 139
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 140
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 141
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 144
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 145
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 146
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 151
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 152
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 153
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 154
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 155
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 156
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 157
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 159
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 160
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 161
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 162